


you'll blow us all away (someday, someday)

by 24bookworm68



Series: three for tallahassee [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Study, F/F, F/M, Homelessness, Multi, Parent-Child Relationship, Polyamory, Runaway Swan Thief Week, Threesome - F/F/M, again sorta, i mean sorta Henry is a newborn, mentioned - Freeform, mentions of Rumplestiltskin, mentions of neverland, nobody cares about this ship And Yet, nothing bad happens to these nerds they're young and in love and happy GODDAMMIT, tallahassee isn't actually near a beach, three nerds and a baby, triangles are the strongest shape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2015-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-06 07:13:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5407736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/24bookworm68/pseuds/24bookworm68
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"my father wasn't around, i swear that i'll be around for you, i'll do whatever it takes, i'll make a million mistakes" -Dear Theodosia, Hamilton</p><p>August 15th 2001 with Neal, Lily, Emma, and Henry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you'll blow us all away (someday, someday)

**Author's Note:**

> runaway swan thief week, prompt: parent. this is disgustingly mushy get a HOLD OF YOURSELVES kids.
> 
> just. just enjoy it. merry frickin' christmas.

Neal Cassidy never thought much about being a parent.

Neither did Baelfire, for the record. Back when life didn’t _fucking suck_ he supposed he would, eventually, probably, if he lived long enough, the way all children guess they’re going to grow up to have families like they’re expected to, but then. Well. His father ( ~~ _died, or as good as_~~ ) turned into a demon and he fell through a portal, found and lost another family, and spent a couple of centuries in Neverland. And then ended up homeless in the land without magic, _again_ , so. After that, children are the last thing on a fifteen year old’s mind.

But, he’s not fifteen anymore, he’s… what, probably around twenty, and Tallahassee isn’t actually near a beach, weren’t they all surprised at _that_ one, Lily and Emma were repeating _“It’s Florida, everything’s near a beach!”_ for days and he was rolling his eyes at the both of them as they tried to set up a _life_ and isn’t that weird to think about. Neal Cassidy has never had a home.

Well, anyway.

Hospitals make him nervous, even after five years in the land without magic, it’s _glaring_ that this is not his environment in them, the stark whiteness and the smell of antiseptic that kinda makes him want to throw up. “Emma’s fine,” Lily says, very quietly, and he nods. “So’s the baby.” Another nod. He’s not sure which of them she’s trying to reassure. His head’s spinning a little. Florida’s got a muggy sort of heat in August, and he convinces himself that’s why he’s so unsteady. Neverland was even more humid, most days, felt like the whole island was under a wet blanket, the air soupy and he had missed the Frontlands, the mild chill that clung to everything most of the year- a lot like Oregon, not cold but it never really warmed up either and Bae-

 _Neal_. His name is Neal now. Baelfire is dead and his name is Neal and Neal is going to be a father. He reaches out for the hand nervously tapping out a rhythm on Lily’s knee and she latches on like he’s a life preserver and he clings right back. He could not have done this on his own. He remembers reading somewhere that triangles are the strongest shape and feels like a goddamn cliche even thinking it. He’s not blind enough to think that the man he wants to be and the man he is are the same, but Emma and Lily make him stronger, make him feel less like the lost boy he was for more years than either of them could imagine. He wants to be stronger, for them, for the baby that he’s going to do his damnedest not to fail.

He doesn’t even hear the nurse calling, falls back into awareness when Lily tugs him to his feet, what would he do without her, without either of them, what would any of them do without each other, alone with the wolves scratching at the door and wow that’s a depressing direction for his thoughts to go in, time to dial it back a couple dozen notches, his mom used to get like this before she bailed and there are very few people he wants to be less than his mother.

He can almost feel his brain grinding to a halt when they walk into the hospital room and Emma’s holding a little baby with a tuft of dark hair and oh, _oh god_ , he actually is a father, this is happening, oh god. Emma grins at him and Lily and he loves her so much, okay, so much, and she says, “Hey, come meet Henry.”

Lily grabs the baby first, through a combination of her own eagerness and the fact that Neal’s legs don’t seem to be talking much to his brain right now so he’s a little slower getting over to the hospital bed. There’s an older couple across the room with their own baby looking at them like something’s wrong with them and he glares over venomously, he _dares_ somebody to say _anything_ about his family. He’s not a kid anymore, he can do something about that kind of bullshit.

And then nobody else in the world matters that much because there’s a baby in his arms.

The kid has his eyes to go along with his hair, dark and squinting up at him as a little hand taps at his face, and the laugh that bubbles out of his throat is half terror but he doesn’t even _care_. “He looks like you,” Lily says, and he laughs again.

“Let’s hope he grows out of that,” he says around the lump in his throat.

Emma glares at him, says “ _Hey_ , we think you’re pretty damn cute,” with her voice all fuzzy from painkillers, and he and Lily laugh and Lily holds their girlfriend’s hand and Neal shifts baby Henry into a more comfortable position against his chest and he’s _home_ , how wild is that.

Emma falls asleep and Lily follows her not long after, and then it’s two in the morning and Neal is still awake holding his son and he has never felt farther from lost. “I’m never gonna leave you,” he whispers to the baby, feeling the need to reassure himself at least, “I’m gonna keep you safe, but I’ve gotta make sure you’re happy, too,” his voice wobbles and he hates it, “And- and I’m not gonna drive you away, okay? We’re gonna talk things through if we need to. I’m not gonna be like your grandpa,” ( _he misses his father_ ) ( _his father is dead and a demon took his place_ ) ( _Neal Cassidy does not have a father and there’s only Neal, now, Baelfire is the scraps of a boy he left behind in Neverland because the land without magic has no room for boys who thought everything could be fixed with a bean and misplaced faith_ ) and his breathing’s wobbly and he wasn’t ready for this but he’ll do his best.

Emma’s hand - the one that isn’t wrapped up in Lily’s - grabs his elbow. He must have woken her up, but she doesn’t open her eyes, like she’s trying to let him keep this a little private, as if he doesn’t want them to know everything about who he used to be. He _does_ but they’d think he was nuts if he told them. He scoots his chair a little closer to the bed, trying his best not to jostle Henry. Emma opens her eyes, glances at Lily before she looks at Neal, and whispers almost casually, “He’s not gonna grow up like we did, right? We won’t let him.”

“And god help the man who tries to stop either of you getting what you want,” he quips, and she snorts.

“Like you’re not just as stubborn as we are,” she grumbles back, and he nods with the mischievous smirk he mastered in Neverland and now mostly reserves for his girlfriends. She gives him a more serious look and says, “You know you aren’t like him, right? Your dad, I mean.”

“You’ve never met my dad, how would you know?”

She gives him a look that says he’s being an idiot on purpose. “Because I know _you_ , Neal, c’mon.” He doesn’t say anything, so she huffs out a sigh, “Don’t make me start listing good qualities. We _love_ you, okay? Me and Lily. Henry probably doesn’t yet, but we’ll work on object permanence before love.”

He barks a laugh, a sharp noise in the stillness of the room that has him clapping a hand over his mouth. Thankfully, nobody wakes up, it’s the little things. “How do you always know the right thing to say?”

“Because we _looooooove_ you, dweeb, now go to _sleep_ ,” Lily mumbles, head still down on her arm, and all three of them share a laugh, huddled together with their baby and all the optimism they can muster up. 


End file.
